Ending Oct. 26: A Tektronix oscilloscope may be your reward for telling us your story about fixing or improving something. For a chance to win a Tektronix scope, send us your story by Oct. 26.

What does Dr. Victor Frankenstein have in common with engineers? You know you know the answer: It's the ability to bring back objects from the dead. The doc's most famous example is that big monster, of course, but who knows what else he reanimated in his lab? Frankenstein's toaster? Frankenstein's microwave? The list is likely to be endless.

Like a modern-day engineer, Frankenstein didn't just throw out a crappy product or demand his money back when something didn't quite live up to his expectations. No, sir, he applied his technical prowess and problem-solving ability to fixing it.

So, in honor of Dr. Frankenstein and Halloween, Tektronix and EE Times have teamed up to recognize this special ability of engineers and mad doctors to get things to work. And as our thanks for the countless products you help keep out of landfills each year, we are giving away a Tektronix MS02024B scope worth $3,650 to one lucky engineer. The winner will be announced on -- you guessed it -- Oct. 31, 2013.

All you have to do is describe a situation in which a product didn't quite live up to expectations (or outright failed), and you successfully repaired, redesigned, or even reanimated it.

Here's how to enter.

Describe in 1,000 words or less a compelling example of a product that you tore into to fix or improve it.

Describe the circumstances that drove you to open it up and investigate its inner workings. Tell us whether you think the problem was related to a design or manufacturing screwup or possibly misuse. If you can, speculate on the choices or tradeoffs that were made and why.

Most importantly, tell us how you diagnosed and fixed the problem. Was it an entire circuit redesign or a simple duct-tape-and-rubber-band-it-together fix? What new constraints, added cost, or other tradeoffs did your work introduce?

Include any relevant supporting documentation: photos, charts, sketches, video, and data that help illustrate your story.

You'll get extra credit if your story makes us groan or laugh out loud -- preferably both.

Register with EEtimes.com, if you haven't done so already, and email your entry to caleb.kraft@ubm.com by Oct. 26, 2013. Include your EE Times user name, the email you used to register, and a short bio of yourself (less than 50 words).

Need a sample to get your gray cells working? Check out The case of the flat panel TV scream, in which an intrepid engineer scores a free 36-inch panel flat screen TV by knowing how to fix it.

All qualifying entries will be published on the new Frankenstein's Fix blog on EE Life and will be entered into a drawing for a Tektronix MSO2024B digital oscilloscope. Full contest rules are located on the following page.

Done this many times with various Heathkits (I was once a Heathkit tech, long ago) and industrial electronics, here is my favourite:

Heathkit HR-1680 - a low-cost but reasonably high-performing ham-band radio receiver. With the audio CW filter on it could pick 0.1 uV signals out of the mud. Not quite the same class as the SB-series, but damn! it worked good. Sometimes the front end would oscillate if the RF gain turned up too high, easily cured with a resistor in series with the wiper hot end of the RF gain control.

Its main problem that many Heath customers complained to me about was that all signals were S9. The S-meter tended to hang in the middle, only very weak or very strong signals pushed the needle below or above S9. I studied the circuit and came up with a modification to make the S-meter behave properly, actually truthfully indicating the relative incoming signal level. My Customers were happy.

Heathkit Engineering approved my change, to be applied whenever a customer complained about this defect.

Could relate many more stories, but the Tek scope contest is probably limited to a single entry. Besides, would not want to get started on the SW-717 or the CO-2500!

@Zeeglen....can report that I have now read "Glide Path" and a rattling good yarn it was too. I was going to email you but have lost your address - can you email me at stn564 {at} yahoo dot com dot au - thanks

This Contest is offered and open only to legal residents of the United States of America

What have you got against us Aussies and other infidels? How about if I promise to come and collect the scope in the US if I win (I reckon it would then work aout about half price..... :-) If not, you'll miss out on at least 2 stories..... (and I won't re-enter the fixes I did for Max :-)

> "Why not give my home address, and then I'll look after it for you.."

You'd love that, wouldn't you? At least you have failth that I will win :-)

> @David: What have you got against us Aussies and other infidels?> Oooh -- it's not fair to present such a tempting target -- now I'm having to physically restrain myself and drag myself away from the keyboard (LOL)

This is really very different out of box idea of a technical event. But the document being asked for participation is quite difficult to get as they will not be having idea about participation at the time of fixing the thing.

But still if you want to win a good quality and brand scope one will have to recreate the fixing environment!!

Yeah, it sounds difficult but it isn't necessarily. Just try to remember the story of how it all happened. If you've still got the device you could take a few pictures. It doesn't have to be in-depth documentation

@Kinnar Caleb is correct, we're not looking for an encyclopiedic description of a repair job, the main gist will do. And the 1,000 word limit is really intended for those of us who, uhm, tend to write a little more verbosely than our more taciturn counterparts.

I'm thinking of submitting my greatest resurrection - a 1940 Chevy coupe that was less than a basket case when I got it. I did a frame off (and partial frame replacement) rebuild. It's now a much faster, much better handling, better looking, MUCH lower, better sounding car with digital instrumentation and multi-amp, 10 speaker stereo. And I did most of it myself.

hey dude don't worry about it - EE have a bad record on Halloween competition pay outs. I entered one back in 2010, won it, http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=30&doc_id=1284683 got an email from a nice young lady asking where the $500 prize cheque should be sent to, I replied, then guess what - nothing arrived! I tried emailing back but never had any replies - so in the end I just gave up demanding my filthy lucre. *sigh* Maybe Max le Magnifico can help me out ?

@Grover - I remember your story and I also entered that comp. I have been paid for a couple of things I've done for EELife and had no problems with any of them, though they did take time......so chase it up some more (ask Karen, she's the boss!)

@grover1 My apologies! I'm sorry that we've left the impression that we do not honor our prize commitments for eligible contestents! Can you please email me at karen.field@ubm.com so I can get your information and make good on the contest and then you can say nice things about us? Thanks! :-)